Rockies believe lineup is peaking just in time

But which offense will show up in Arizona?

By Nick Groke

The Denver Post

Posted:
10/02/2017 10:04:17 PM MDT

Updated:
10/02/2017 10:04:58 PM MDT

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon, right, hits his 37th homer to right field to drive in Ian Desmond in the second inning against the Dodgers on Friday in Denver at Coors Field. (John Leyba / The Denver Post)

DENVER — If there is a hitter in purple who can appreciate how the Rockies reached the postseason — by the hairs on their chins — it is Charlie Blackmon. Colorado's All-Star center fielder tends to eat an 0-for-3 day at the plate like it was moldy bread, even when his team wins.

"We played 162 games this year. We were the second wild card. We didn't get in by much. But that's all it takes," Blackmon said. "It makes you realize that one pitch or that one swing or that one play can make the difference between making the playoffs or not."

In winning five of seven games through Friday night to finally clinch a National League wild-card berth, the Rockies pieced together a productive offensive streak just in time.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, left, congratulates first baseman Mark Reynolds after hitting his 30th homer in the first inning against the Dodgers on Friday in Denver at Coors Field. (John Leyba / The Denver Post)

But which team will surface Wednesday in a one-game playoff against the Diamondbacks in Arizona? The lineup that hit .321 with runners in scoring position over the first 11 weeks of the season and led the Rockies to the top of the National League West on June 20? Or the one that hit just .215 with runners in scoring position from Sept. 1-25?

The Rockies choose to answer that question with a short memory. In their final five games of the season, as they RSVP'd their postseason invitation, the Rockies hit .304 with runners in scoring position.

Advertisement

"We have one game now. We could play the Diamondbacks and (play poorly) and lose. But for me, personally, where we are right now, we're in a really good spot," Colorado closer Greg Holland said. "You've got to roll the carpet out there and play. I'm not worried one bit. We have the ability to really do some things. You don't want to look ahead, but we have all the right pieces to do that."

Holland twice saw his former team, the Kansas City Royals, streak into the playoffs, first in 2014 and again in 2015, when they won the World Series. With a towel around his shoulders Saturday night to mop up a beer bath during the team's celebration for making the playoffs, Holland talked about the importance of starting pitching and a reliable bullpen. But he got specific only with the offense.

"Our lineup is hitting a peak because you have guys like Trevor Story and Carlos Gonzalez, who have grinded all year, and now they're big threats in the middle of the lineup," he said. "And we have Jonathan Lucroy, who can flip a lineup over in the 8 hole."

The Rockies' turnaround bubbled up after the bottom half of their lineup finally flipped after being a vacuum for so many empty at-bats early in the season.

Story, Colorado's second-year shortstop, hit just .167 in April, with a thin .683 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), and was striking out at an alarming rate. But Story's final month was his best. He hit .269 with an .863 OPS in September, with six home runs and 22 RBIs. Colorado manager Bud Black, who lamented for weeks how his team could not find enough timely hits, moved Story into the cleanup spot over the final week.

Gonzalez, playing the final year of his contract with the Rockies, suffered through one of his worst professional seasons in 10 years. In June, he hit .172 with three RBIs. But in September, he was vintage CarGo. He hit six home runs with 16 RBIs, with a .377 average and a team-high 1.250 OPS.

And Lucroy, the veteran catcher acquired at the July trade deadline for his defense and pitching guidance, rediscovered his stroke. He raised his average nearly 70 points, to .310, in 46 games after leaving the Texas Rangers.

An offense that so often was carried by the top of its lineup — Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado — suddenly had the best OPS in the National League in September, at .792.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story